microRNAs for the Improvement of Functional Protein Expression from HEK Cells

This technology includes five microRNA mimics which were identified to improve the functional expression of hard-to-express membrane protein. These miRNAs are: hsa-miR-22-5p; hsa-miR-18a-5p, hsa-miR-22-3p, hsa-miR-429 and hsa-miR-2110. Improving expression level of recombinant mammalian proteins is vital, as the adequate supply of correctly folded proteins is the prerequisite for all structure and function studies. Rational attempts to improve membrane protein expression may not lead to expected results as membrane proteins involve particularly complex folding, assembly, and processing pathways, and there is only limited information for the bottlenecks that may reside in the protein production steps, such as transcription, translation, protein folding, secretion and cell viability. These miRNAs could be used to enhance expression of other membrane, intracellular or even secreted proteins with medical significance.